Dear Family and Friends,
This week I was able to go on an exchange with Elder Hougland. Their
area was low on miles and this was the last day of the month, so we
had to bike quite a bit. I have never had to bike on my mission so
far, and frankly that day was probably more biking than I ever want to
do again. Elder Gardner and Elder Hougland were too afraid to tell me
that I would be biking on exchanges so I found out right after we
exchanged. Since they didn't warn me, I didn't have my bike so I had
to use Elder Gardner's bike which is too small. By the end of the day,
my right foot was shaking involuntarily because I think I pushed
myself too hard. At least Elder Hougland was patient with me and so we
were able to go a little slower for the last couple miles back to the
apartment.
On Exchanges, we were able to teach Brother Bower. He was on a panel
of recent converts during one of our zone conferences and the
missionaries got to ask about their conversion experiences. He is
preparing to give a talk in Sacrament Meeting in a couple weeks on
enduring to the end. It was interesting to get to know Brother Bower
more than when he was in zone conference.
In District Meeting, I learned that I need to know the truths of the
gospel well, not only in my mind, but in my heart also, so that I can
teach it simply. This way of teaching will not only be simpler for the
investigator's mind to process, but it will also help them to get the
principles to be understood spiritually, in their heart.
At a dinner with the Vonn Neiderhausern family, we were able to help
them develop a family mission plan. This plan is meant to be how that
family plans on contributing to the ward mission plan. They were
really excited about making a plan and even wanted to print it out and
hang it on their fridge to constantly remind them of their goals. They
are a great family and are always willing to help out with the
missionary efforts in any way that they can.
Friday, President Daines invited us and everyone that helped with
moving the mission home furniture over for lunch. Their daughter,
Emily, just got married to Bronson Young, a former assistant in this
mission, and they needed help finishing all the leftovers. There was
so much food, and it was all amazing. President Daines said this is
also future payment for helping move some more furniture when they
replace the basement carpet again.
Saturday, we had a lesson with Grant. Normally, he has been really
busy and hard to contact, but he had some time during an open house he
was doing that he could meet with us. The lesson went really well.
Elder Low and I focused on applying what we had learned at Zone
Training Meeting about teaching using scriptures and asking questions
to aid in self-guided discovery. We asked Grant to ponder as we read a
verse in the Book of Mormon and then we were completely silent after
he finished reading the verse. After a lengthy pause, he opened up to
how he felt about baptism and I know he wouldn't have shared that
information if we didn't ask him to ponder then give time for the
spirit to work on him.
We found out Sunday that Brother Fisher, our ward mission leader, is
moving. He will likely be leaving by the end of June. Also, Brother
Hunter, one of the ward missionaries, was released Sunday. Now there
are only two ward missionaries, which is down from four that we had
when I first got to Powell. On the bright side, I can see that the
ward is starting to rally together and see the need for more member
missionary work with all of the people that are leaving. There have
been more talks and lessons in church about how to reach out to be a
friend to everyone and inviting them to learn about the gospel.
Brother Hunter brought twelve interns from BYU and UGA to church with
him yesterday. Four of them were non-members and we were able to get
the contact info of one of them to refer to the missionaries in
Georgia. Having that many people visiting was interesting. Our gospel
principles class barely fit in the room we meet in. Overall, the
non-members said they had a really good experience at church. Alex
said he felt like the church was really personal, but not in an
intruding way.
--
Elder Aaron King
Ohio Columbus Mission
Tuesday, July 5, 2016
Monday, June 6, 2016
May 30, 2016
Dear Family and Friends,
In Zone training meeting, one of the main takeaways I got was that I
need to find new ideas for working with members. During weekly
planning I realized another way we can boost the efforts of working
with members is to work with more members of the Ward mission. There
is a ward missionary I haven't worked with yet since getting to Powell
that I would like to try involving more.
Another thing that really stuck out from zone conference is the need
to have a "one last door" mentality. That idea reminds me of the quote
from President Monson's talk in conference that we need to "choose the
harder right instead of the easier wrong." I have seen going to knock
one more door or keep working for that five more minutes help find
someone that is ready to hear the message we share.
We had an interesting call into the office this week. A man named Bob
Hawthorne called into the mission office and had some questions about
some verses in Ether 3. Elder Low and I were not the first ones to
speak to him. Sister Long, the mission secretary, answered and gave us
the phone saying he was possibly an investigator. Once we got on the
phone with him, we read the scriptures and he seemed to think we
taught that God is a spirit. He kept saying we believed that doctrine
and we kept telling him that we believe he has a body. He wouldn't let
us get much in and kept telling some different stories from his life.
He went to the office of the first presidency, to Hugh Nibley, and to
some other notable LDS figures and he kept getting conflicting views
on whether on his question: Did the Premortal Christ have a physical
body, or was he a spirit? Much later on in the call we found out that
he was excommunicated twenty years ago because he was causing a
commotion over this question and wouldn't let it go and wouldn't
follow the council of church leadership. Now he thinks it is his duty
as a priesthood holder (even though he is excommunicated) to teach
this doctrine to everyone. Now that we knew he wasn't a member and
that he was just trying to change our mind, we figured it was about
time for the call to be up. Overall, the call was about one hour and
twenty minutes long.
Elder Low and I, along with several nearby companionships, helped
moved all the furniture in the garage of the mission home back inside.
We started at 8pm and got done around 10pm. There was a lot of beds
and dressers that we needed to carry back up the stairs to the upper
floor. We also moved all of the bunkbeds from the ping pong room back
to the main sleeping area in the basement. Though, President Daines
found a defect in the new basement carpet, so we will have to move all
the basement furniture out again once they order replacement carpet.
That probably won't be for another month or so. We ended up staying at
the mission home for another hour passed when everyone else was there
because a missionary we gave a ride needed to meet with President, so
Elder Low and I spent some time verifying the accuracy of the
assignment histories on the transfer board. After taking those elders
back to their apartment, we didn't get to our apartment until passed
11:30pm.
This week we lost two elders from our district, Elder Henderson and
Elder Hartley. They both went home Saturday. Now their companions are
left as companions serving in both the Lewis Center and Polaris areas.
They ended up going to both blocks of church yesterday. I am going to
miss them, they were both really awesome missionaries.
Thursday, Elder Low helped with shuffling mission vehicles from the
office to the mission home. President needed some vehicles temporarily
because his family is in town. It took several trips between Elder
Low, Elder Long, and myself driving vehicles back and forth. It is
interesting how many times this transfer Elder Low and I have been
separated because we needed to drive an extra car somewhere. First it
was when we needed to get a car repaired, next it was to take a car
from a closing area from the mission home to the office during a
mid-cycle transfer, and now there were several trips that day where we
lost one another at a red light or stop sign. I am glad President
trusts us. I also got to drive President Daine's GMC Acadia. That is a
nice vehicle.
Elder Low and I Helped the Knight family move furniture and boxes out
of their office. They are moving to Arizona and wanted help moving
their stuff from their insurance company. The Knight's gave us a whole
serving tin full of pulled pork from their daughter's high school
graduation party that they gave us. It will probably feed us for the
next week. They are an awesome family and it is sad that they will be
moving in a month.
Elder Low and I have been getting along better, there is certainly
less contention between us. The main thing that I have been trying to
work on the last couple weeks is involving Elder Low in weekly
planning more. He was really involved the first week or two in the
area, but he has been more content to stay in the background
afterwards. We talked about this during companionship inventory and
part of the problem is that Elder Low doesn't like making decisions,
big or small. Often during planning, when I feel I have been talking
too much, I ask Elder Low for his input on a decision to help him get
more involved and invested in planning. I have tried open end
questions like "which potential do you feel we should visit at this
time" or giving him choices between a few options in the area like
"would you like to tract street A, B, or C?" Usually, I get a similar
response back of "I don't know."
I would like to help him be involved more so that we are working
together as equals in our efforts. I can't be the first to have gone
through this problem, maybe there is something that helped another
companionship that was going through the same thing. I just need to
find out what.
--
Elder Aaron King
Ohio Columbus Mission
In Zone training meeting, one of the main takeaways I got was that I
need to find new ideas for working with members. During weekly
planning I realized another way we can boost the efforts of working
with members is to work with more members of the Ward mission. There
is a ward missionary I haven't worked with yet since getting to Powell
that I would like to try involving more.
Another thing that really stuck out from zone conference is the need
to have a "one last door" mentality. That idea reminds me of the quote
from President Monson's talk in conference that we need to "choose the
harder right instead of the easier wrong." I have seen going to knock
one more door or keep working for that five more minutes help find
someone that is ready to hear the message we share.
We had an interesting call into the office this week. A man named Bob
Hawthorne called into the mission office and had some questions about
some verses in Ether 3. Elder Low and I were not the first ones to
speak to him. Sister Long, the mission secretary, answered and gave us
the phone saying he was possibly an investigator. Once we got on the
phone with him, we read the scriptures and he seemed to think we
taught that God is a spirit. He kept saying we believed that doctrine
and we kept telling him that we believe he has a body. He wouldn't let
us get much in and kept telling some different stories from his life.
He went to the office of the first presidency, to Hugh Nibley, and to
some other notable LDS figures and he kept getting conflicting views
on whether on his question: Did the Premortal Christ have a physical
body, or was he a spirit? Much later on in the call we found out that
he was excommunicated twenty years ago because he was causing a
commotion over this question and wouldn't let it go and wouldn't
follow the council of church leadership. Now he thinks it is his duty
as a priesthood holder (even though he is excommunicated) to teach
this doctrine to everyone. Now that we knew he wasn't a member and
that he was just trying to change our mind, we figured it was about
time for the call to be up. Overall, the call was about one hour and
twenty minutes long.
Elder Low and I, along with several nearby companionships, helped
moved all the furniture in the garage of the mission home back inside.
We started at 8pm and got done around 10pm. There was a lot of beds
and dressers that we needed to carry back up the stairs to the upper
floor. We also moved all of the bunkbeds from the ping pong room back
to the main sleeping area in the basement. Though, President Daines
found a defect in the new basement carpet, so we will have to move all
the basement furniture out again once they order replacement carpet.
That probably won't be for another month or so. We ended up staying at
the mission home for another hour passed when everyone else was there
because a missionary we gave a ride needed to meet with President, so
Elder Low and I spent some time verifying the accuracy of the
assignment histories on the transfer board. After taking those elders
back to their apartment, we didn't get to our apartment until passed
11:30pm.
This week we lost two elders from our district, Elder Henderson and
Elder Hartley. They both went home Saturday. Now their companions are
left as companions serving in both the Lewis Center and Polaris areas.
They ended up going to both blocks of church yesterday. I am going to
miss them, they were both really awesome missionaries.
Thursday, Elder Low helped with shuffling mission vehicles from the
office to the mission home. President needed some vehicles temporarily
because his family is in town. It took several trips between Elder
Low, Elder Long, and myself driving vehicles back and forth. It is
interesting how many times this transfer Elder Low and I have been
separated because we needed to drive an extra car somewhere. First it
was when we needed to get a car repaired, next it was to take a car
from a closing area from the mission home to the office during a
mid-cycle transfer, and now there were several trips that day where we
lost one another at a red light or stop sign. I am glad President
trusts us. I also got to drive President Daine's GMC Acadia. That is a
nice vehicle.
Elder Low and I Helped the Knight family move furniture and boxes out
of their office. They are moving to Arizona and wanted help moving
their stuff from their insurance company. The Knight's gave us a whole
serving tin full of pulled pork from their daughter's high school
graduation party that they gave us. It will probably feed us for the
next week. They are an awesome family and it is sad that they will be
moving in a month.
Elder Low and I have been getting along better, there is certainly
less contention between us. The main thing that I have been trying to
work on the last couple weeks is involving Elder Low in weekly
planning more. He was really involved the first week or two in the
area, but he has been more content to stay in the background
afterwards. We talked about this during companionship inventory and
part of the problem is that Elder Low doesn't like making decisions,
big or small. Often during planning, when I feel I have been talking
too much, I ask Elder Low for his input on a decision to help him get
more involved and invested in planning. I have tried open end
questions like "which potential do you feel we should visit at this
time" or giving him choices between a few options in the area like
"would you like to tract street A, B, or C?" Usually, I get a similar
response back of "I don't know."
I would like to help him be involved more so that we are working
together as equals in our efforts. I can't be the first to have gone
through this problem, maybe there is something that helped another
companionship that was going through the same thing. I just need to
find out what.
--
Elder Aaron King
Ohio Columbus Mission
May 23, 2016
Dear Family and Friends,
In District Meeting, I learned that I need to get back to using the
Book of Mormon more in helping investigators to answer their questions
themselves. With a Book of Mormon challenge starting again, I have
been seeing lots of insights on the Savior and I am excited to help
others learn of Christ as well.
Jonathan, one of our progressing investigators, has read the same
chapter in the Book of Mormon four times because it isn't clicking for
him. We have been trying to help him focus on paying attention to how
he feels more so than trying to absorb all of the information. Sister
Daines' comments at the zone conference comparing investigators to
babies has been helpful. When babies first get solid baby food, they
usually spit it out because it is a new experience for them and they
are not used to it. We need to work with Jon and assist him in the
learning rather than just giving him something to read and hoping he
gets everything out of it that he needs. Like a baby, you will need to
coax them into trying it more until they come to enjoy the food and
even ask for more.
From the Zone Conference with Elder Zeballos, the two main principles
I have been working to apply are pondering and likening. Sister
Zeballos made the comment to ponder both before and after prayer. I
have been taking some time before starting and I don't get up
immediately after saying amen. God definitely answers prayers when we
give Him time to respond to us. This way, I have noticed prayer can be
more of a two way communication and less of a list of requests and
thanks. This has improved more than just my prayers, the effects are
carrying over into my studies where I am getting deeper understanding
and I am better able to see connections that I can liken to my life
and the lives of our investigators.
--
Elder Aaron King
Ohio Columbus Mission
In District Meeting, I learned that I need to get back to using the
Book of Mormon more in helping investigators to answer their questions
themselves. With a Book of Mormon challenge starting again, I have
been seeing lots of insights on the Savior and I am excited to help
others learn of Christ as well.
Jonathan, one of our progressing investigators, has read the same
chapter in the Book of Mormon four times because it isn't clicking for
him. We have been trying to help him focus on paying attention to how
he feels more so than trying to absorb all of the information. Sister
Daines' comments at the zone conference comparing investigators to
babies has been helpful. When babies first get solid baby food, they
usually spit it out because it is a new experience for them and they
are not used to it. We need to work with Jon and assist him in the
learning rather than just giving him something to read and hoping he
gets everything out of it that he needs. Like a baby, you will need to
coax them into trying it more until they come to enjoy the food and
even ask for more.
From the Zone Conference with Elder Zeballos, the two main principles
I have been working to apply are pondering and likening. Sister
Zeballos made the comment to ponder both before and after prayer. I
have been taking some time before starting and I don't get up
immediately after saying amen. God definitely answers prayers when we
give Him time to respond to us. This way, I have noticed prayer can be
more of a two way communication and less of a list of requests and
thanks. This has improved more than just my prayers, the effects are
carrying over into my studies where I am getting deeper understanding
and I am better able to see connections that I can liken to my life
and the lives of our investigators.
--
Elder Aaron King
Ohio Columbus Mission
Sunday, May 22, 2016
May 16, 2016
Dear Family and Friends,
In Zone Conference, I really enjoyed the roleplay where we were bold
with investigators about keeping commitments. Elder Low and I had the
opportunity that night to apply what we had learned as we were direct
with Bill, a less active member, about coming to church. He initially
has decided he wasn't going to stake conference because he didn't like
the previous stake conference he attended. As we related the teaching
to his level and helped him understand the importance keeping a
commitment we make he had a change of heart and agreed he will come.
Saturday, we had exchanges with our zone leaders. I really enjoyed
going out to work with Elder Petersen. I learned a lot about street
contacting and how to be more real with people. Elder Petersen is a
great example of a diligent leader. I really admire his sense of
urgency he has in the work.
We were able to have a lesson with Jonathan Blake. The topics we
covered were really similar to what we covered the first time, but the
outcome was so much better this time. We had the first lesson on his
porch and second lesson we had in a member's home. It was amazing to
see the contrast between the two. Jon really seemed to benefit from
having another perspective than the missionaries. This has helped
build my testimony of the importance of having members at as many
lessons as possible.
Another change with the first lesson and the second lesson is that Jon
kept the commitment to read in the Book of Mormon. I could see a
difference in his attitude from the first lesson to the second. His
heart had definitely been softened from only believing the bible, to
seeing that there is truth in the Book of Mormon.
Stake Conference had some really amazing talks. I think my favorite
was the genealogy talk. I had never thought to pray before I do family
history work, but it makes sense. Sister Daines also made a comment
that really stuck out to me and I have been trying to apply more. She
said "When we stop pleading for our own will and start pleading for
the Father's will, that is when miracles happen." That talk tied in
really well to Elder Corbidge's talk which mentioned not falling into
the trap of living a church-centered life. We need to be
Christ-centered, which involves turning outward. President Daines
talked about working with members. The members pray for the
missionaries and the missionaries pray for the members. But it really
should be a combined effort and that we should be praying together,
not just praying for the other group.
Thank you for the package. The muffin loaf is delicious as always, thank you.
Sorry the email is a bit later in the day this week, we just got back
from the Columbus Zoo for our district activity (pictures coming
soon). Have a great week everyone!
--
Elder Aaron King
Ohio Columbus Mission
In Zone Conference, I really enjoyed the roleplay where we were bold
with investigators about keeping commitments. Elder Low and I had the
opportunity that night to apply what we had learned as we were direct
with Bill, a less active member, about coming to church. He initially
has decided he wasn't going to stake conference because he didn't like
the previous stake conference he attended. As we related the teaching
to his level and helped him understand the importance keeping a
commitment we make he had a change of heart and agreed he will come.
Saturday, we had exchanges with our zone leaders. I really enjoyed
going out to work with Elder Petersen. I learned a lot about street
contacting and how to be more real with people. Elder Petersen is a
great example of a diligent leader. I really admire his sense of
urgency he has in the work.
We were able to have a lesson with Jonathan Blake. The topics we
covered were really similar to what we covered the first time, but the
outcome was so much better this time. We had the first lesson on his
porch and second lesson we had in a member's home. It was amazing to
see the contrast between the two. Jon really seemed to benefit from
having another perspective than the missionaries. This has helped
build my testimony of the importance of having members at as many
lessons as possible.
Another change with the first lesson and the second lesson is that Jon
kept the commitment to read in the Book of Mormon. I could see a
difference in his attitude from the first lesson to the second. His
heart had definitely been softened from only believing the bible, to
seeing that there is truth in the Book of Mormon.
Stake Conference had some really amazing talks. I think my favorite
was the genealogy talk. I had never thought to pray before I do family
history work, but it makes sense. Sister Daines also made a comment
that really stuck out to me and I have been trying to apply more. She
said "When we stop pleading for our own will and start pleading for
the Father's will, that is when miracles happen." That talk tied in
really well to Elder Corbidge's talk which mentioned not falling into
the trap of living a church-centered life. We need to be
Christ-centered, which involves turning outward. President Daines
talked about working with members. The members pray for the
missionaries and the missionaries pray for the members. But it really
should be a combined effort and that we should be praying together,
not just praying for the other group.
Thank you for the package. The muffin loaf is delicious as always, thank you.
Sorry the email is a bit later in the day this week, we just got back
from the Columbus Zoo for our district activity (pictures coming
soon). Have a great week everyone!
--
Elder Aaron King
Ohio Columbus Mission
May 2, 2016
Dear Family and Friends,
Brother Weidner in the ward asked us to help his daughter and
son-in-law move. They are moving from right near our apartment to the
Powell sister's area. The daughter wasn't there when we showed up, but
we were able to help the son-in-law, Steve. He is a really cool
person. He is an entrepreneur and has worked with a lot of the same
kinds of organizations I worked with back home. He works with software
and medical companies to set up kiosks for places like Walgreens or
CVS, although they do a lot more than take your blood pressure. He was
working on having on call doctors that would be able to talk to you
from a tv screen. I just imagined a tech support room full of cubicles
with doctors sitting there taking calls from patients. There is a lot
of interesting technology coming out these days.
Saturday, we had a couple service activities planned that fell
through. We were already low on miles since that was the last day of
the month, so we had to plan a lot of tracting. In the evening, we
spent 3 hours in the rain on the same road. There were a lot of people
that were nice and talked with us. Usually people just slam the door
and we move on, but there were quite a few that we were able to have
some good conversations with. One lady had just seen the Book of
Mormon Musical a couple days before and was really excited to actually
talk to some "real elders". That was an interesting conversation, I
think that play is doing some good for the church's publicity, but it
really misinforms people on what our church really believes.
Sunday evening we had our District Fireside. The theme was "Finding
New Life in Christ". About sixty people showed up. Most were members
from the three wards, but there were a few investigators and friends
that came with those members. Everything came together really well.
All of the musical numbers, speakers, and video presentations worked
together so perfectly and it was a really spiritual meeting.
Since this week is transfers, Elder Low and I knew we would be too
busy to teach the Carson's. So, during ward coordination, we asked the
sisters during to teach a lesson to them this week. At the fireside, I
uses the Carson's mentioned that they like sisters teaching more
because they relate to Alyssa better. So I guess our main progressing
investigator may be taught by the sisters now which is kind of sad. I
am not sure if the sisters are allowed to come into our area to teach.
The sisters will be asking President Daines to see if that would even
be allowed. The sisters feel really bad about the situation and didn't
want this to happen, but the Carson's have already said something.
--
Elder Aaron King
Ohio Columbus Mission
Brother Weidner in the ward asked us to help his daughter and
son-in-law move. They are moving from right near our apartment to the
Powell sister's area. The daughter wasn't there when we showed up, but
we were able to help the son-in-law, Steve. He is a really cool
person. He is an entrepreneur and has worked with a lot of the same
kinds of organizations I worked with back home. He works with software
and medical companies to set up kiosks for places like Walgreens or
CVS, although they do a lot more than take your blood pressure. He was
working on having on call doctors that would be able to talk to you
from a tv screen. I just imagined a tech support room full of cubicles
with doctors sitting there taking calls from patients. There is a lot
of interesting technology coming out these days.
Saturday, we had a couple service activities planned that fell
through. We were already low on miles since that was the last day of
the month, so we had to plan a lot of tracting. In the evening, we
spent 3 hours in the rain on the same road. There were a lot of people
that were nice and talked with us. Usually people just slam the door
and we move on, but there were quite a few that we were able to have
some good conversations with. One lady had just seen the Book of
Mormon Musical a couple days before and was really excited to actually
talk to some "real elders". That was an interesting conversation, I
think that play is doing some good for the church's publicity, but it
really misinforms people on what our church really believes.
Sunday evening we had our District Fireside. The theme was "Finding
New Life in Christ". About sixty people showed up. Most were members
from the three wards, but there were a few investigators and friends
that came with those members. Everything came together really well.
All of the musical numbers, speakers, and video presentations worked
together so perfectly and it was a really spiritual meeting.
Since this week is transfers, Elder Low and I knew we would be too
busy to teach the Carson's. So, during ward coordination, we asked the
sisters during to teach a lesson to them this week. At the fireside, I
uses the Carson's mentioned that they like sisters teaching more
because they relate to Alyssa better. So I guess our main progressing
investigator may be taught by the sisters now which is kind of sad. I
am not sure if the sisters are allowed to come into our area to teach.
The sisters will be asking President Daines to see if that would even
be allowed. The sisters feel really bad about the situation and didn't
want this to happen, but the Carson's have already said something.
--
Elder Aaron King
Ohio Columbus Mission
Sunday, May 1, 2016
April 25th, 2016
Dear Family and Friends,
I really enjoyed the service project at OSU planting trees. As half
the mission, we planted over 400 trees on campus. It was a great
learning experience and even helped me learn some skills that helped a
few days later. Elder Low and I had the opportunity to plant some more
trees while we worked alongside a part member family. We were able to
help the Goodson's plant another 25 trees.
In District Meeting I enjoyed learning about how to better face
rejection. Elder Gardner, our district leader, said to be diligent,
remember covenants (including the one to come on a mission), and
things will work out. Part of continuing to find when we could get
discouraged is that we need to do the will of the Lord when the Lord
wills it. The Lord is seeing if we will be like Alma and go back to
Ammonihah even when we know we will likely face rejection. It is
interesting that we had this training when we did, because the night
before we had about an hour of tracting where every person we talked
to would barely give us the time of day and would slam the door in our
faces.
We met one of the potentials, Chad, that we found in the Area Book. He
had some stones out on his driveway and we offered to come back and
teach him while we helped him build his patio. He is a really nice
individual that left his previous church recently and is really
excited to learn everything about our church. We were able to have a
great conversation with him about how the gospel blesses families and
the message really connected with him. He wants us to teach his family
too, so I am really looking forward to that.
In ward council this week, our ward mission leader was able to get
some input for the Focus 15 family list. He has been trying to get the
quorums and auxiliaries invested in thinking of individuals and
families that need some support and fellowship. This week we were
finally able to see some progress and I was really impressed with how
well the council was working together to find ways to engage the
people we were discussing. Everyone was participating a lot more once
we moved from calendar items and we're taking about actual people. I
hope to see this list fill out more and I am excited to see what comes
from all the action items that were made.
--
Elder Aaron King
Ohio Columbus Mission
I really enjoyed the service project at OSU planting trees. As half
the mission, we planted over 400 trees on campus. It was a great
learning experience and even helped me learn some skills that helped a
few days later. Elder Low and I had the opportunity to plant some more
trees while we worked alongside a part member family. We were able to
help the Goodson's plant another 25 trees.
In District Meeting I enjoyed learning about how to better face
rejection. Elder Gardner, our district leader, said to be diligent,
remember covenants (including the one to come on a mission), and
things will work out. Part of continuing to find when we could get
discouraged is that we need to do the will of the Lord when the Lord
wills it. The Lord is seeing if we will be like Alma and go back to
Ammonihah even when we know we will likely face rejection. It is
interesting that we had this training when we did, because the night
before we had about an hour of tracting where every person we talked
to would barely give us the time of day and would slam the door in our
faces.
We met one of the potentials, Chad, that we found in the Area Book. He
had some stones out on his driveway and we offered to come back and
teach him while we helped him build his patio. He is a really nice
individual that left his previous church recently and is really
excited to learn everything about our church. We were able to have a
great conversation with him about how the gospel blesses families and
the message really connected with him. He wants us to teach his family
too, so I am really looking forward to that.
In ward council this week, our ward mission leader was able to get
some input for the Focus 15 family list. He has been trying to get the
quorums and auxiliaries invested in thinking of individuals and
families that need some support and fellowship. This week we were
finally able to see some progress and I was really impressed with how
well the council was working together to find ways to engage the
people we were discussing. Everyone was participating a lot more once
we moved from calendar items and we're taking about actual people. I
hope to see this list fill out more and I am excited to see what comes
from all the action items that were made.
--
Elder Aaron King
Ohio Columbus Mission
Tuesday, April 19, 2016
April 18th, 2016
Dear Family and Friends,
I have learned some ways to work with Elder Low better this week. In
companionship inventory we talked through some things, but there is
still more contention than I would like in our companionship. He said
being junior companion is taking some adjusting to after being senior
companion for so long. Also, he doesn't like when people tell him what
to do. I am trying not to be bossy or be overbearing, and he says I am
not being like that. He just shuts down when he is told to do
something and he will basically do the opposite. Things aren't
perfect, but we are making progress.
In District Meeting, we learned about how to better work with members.
I enjoyed the roleplay which involved sharing an experience from our
mission then inviting the members to fast and pray for missionary
opportunities and the work in the area. We also learned how to better
teach those with a non-Christian background. I learned that it is
really important to go slow and check for understanding throughout the
lesson. Really, that principle could apply to a lot of teaching
situations.
Saturday, we were able to attend a baptism for Michael, the Lewis
Center Sister's investigator. We invited the Carson family and they
enjoyed being to a baptism again. They haven't attended a baptism
since their own. I think this is a good reminder for them that will
help them as they move closer to their daughter's (Alyssa) baptism. We
wanted to extend a baptismal date to Alyssa, but since she will be
baptized by her dad we wanted to get the bishop's input first. Brother
Carson met with the bishop Sunday to discuss when he will be able to
baptize Alyssa and he told us it probably won't be for a couple
months. So there is a possibility that I am transferred before the
baptism, but oh well.
Have a great week, everyone!
--
Elder Aaron King
Ohio Columbus Mission
I have learned some ways to work with Elder Low better this week. In
companionship inventory we talked through some things, but there is
still more contention than I would like in our companionship. He said
being junior companion is taking some adjusting to after being senior
companion for so long. Also, he doesn't like when people tell him what
to do. I am trying not to be bossy or be overbearing, and he says I am
not being like that. He just shuts down when he is told to do
something and he will basically do the opposite. Things aren't
perfect, but we are making progress.
In District Meeting, we learned about how to better work with members.
I enjoyed the roleplay which involved sharing an experience from our
mission then inviting the members to fast and pray for missionary
opportunities and the work in the area. We also learned how to better
teach those with a non-Christian background. I learned that it is
really important to go slow and check for understanding throughout the
lesson. Really, that principle could apply to a lot of teaching
situations.
Saturday, we were able to attend a baptism for Michael, the Lewis
Center Sister's investigator. We invited the Carson family and they
enjoyed being to a baptism again. They haven't attended a baptism
since their own. I think this is a good reminder for them that will
help them as they move closer to their daughter's (Alyssa) baptism. We
wanted to extend a baptismal date to Alyssa, but since she will be
baptized by her dad we wanted to get the bishop's input first. Brother
Carson met with the bishop Sunday to discuss when he will be able to
baptize Alyssa and he told us it probably won't be for a couple
months. So there is a possibility that I am transferred before the
baptism, but oh well.
Have a great week, everyone!
--
Elder Aaron King
Ohio Columbus Mission
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